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All reviews for Magix Movie Studio
| 27 reviews, Showing 1 to 27 reviews |
For the avoidance of doubt, Magix Movie Studio is NOT an upgrade of the old Vegas/Sony Movie Studio and is completely different program. Magix has adopted the "Movie Studio" name for it's own program, Movie Edit Pro.
Magix Movie Studio has a heap of helpful features, including super fast rendering/export if you have a decent graphics card and on a modern computer is rock-solid, virtually crash-free. For the price, it's a great program.
Magix Movie Studio has a heap of helpful features, including super fast rendering/export if you have a decent graphics card and on a modern computer is rock-solid, virtually crash-free. For the price, it's a great program.
Review by Alwyn on
Jul 21, 2024 Version: 2025
OS: Windows 11 Ease of use: 8/10
Functionality: 8/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
As a long-time user of Vegas Movie Studio when it was a Sony product (since 2009) who made the mistake of upgrading to Magix 2024 (for better support of GoPro videos) I'm hugely disappointed by this latest version. It is a huge step in the wrong direction. Simple transitions like fades are now very hard to create, the audio waveforms don't show, making it impossible to sync audio tracks. The online help is horrible. The usability has just gone out the window.
The free software VideoPAD is better in those respects.
The free software VideoPAD is better in those respects.
Review by Yves Dehnel on
Jan 1, 2024 Version: 2024
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 2/10
Functionality: 5/10
Value for money: 2/10
Overall: 2/10
I have used various editors including Vegas Movie Studio (VMS), Pinnacle Studio (7,8 and 9), and Cyberlink Power Director 3. Let me tell you how refreshing it is to use such a powerful and STABLE editor like VMS. I have spent many frustrated nights using Pinnacles Studio and now that Sony has replaced MyDVD with their own DVD Architect, I have finally uninstalled Power Director and removed the Pinnacle infestation from my computer. VMS has features like chromakey, and PiP that the others dont have or charge extra in a "plus" version. All render high quality video but VMS rendering engine is the fastest.
Review by tdm on
May 5, 2009 Version: 4.0
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 7/10
Functionality: 9/10
Value for money: 9/10
Overall: 9/10
9.0b still doesn't burn working BD5 or BD9 disks that play in a player. Back to doing it with Nero...
Review by HaveBlue on
Dec 30, 2008 Version: 9.0b
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 8/10
Functionality: 8/10
Value for money: 9/10
Overall: 8/10
$50 well spent, especially if you use a Sony camcorder. I also have a older (v 6.5) version of Premiere, and Vegas Movie compares very favorably with it as a professional-style editor that isn't so dumbed down that it becomes limiting. (Of course, Vegas works much faster and accepts more formats than does my old Premiere that was made before WinXP.)
I was delighted to find that Vegas Movie can do many things that one would expect only a much more expensive, "professional" editor to do. For example, it can do transparent overlays, like if you want to place a watermark on your video.
One problem that I experienced with Vegas Movie is that sometimes, when I click the main timeline preview Play button, it will cause my computer to freeze while it runs through the entire movie, and the computer remains frozen until I reboot it. However, I learned from experience that this can be prevented by minimizing all of the tracks, making the movie preview window small and "draft option" in appearance, and turning off all unneeded programs that may be running in the background. My computer system is an older one that has been through many upgrades, so that may have something to do with this issue. I mention the solution here in case anyone else encounters that problem.
Other programs I have used in addition to Premiere include several versions of MainActor, VideoEdit, Windows Movie Maker, VideoWave, and some I can't remember. So far, Vegas Movie is the best of them all.
I should mention that I use the excellent free QuickMediaConverter to convert VOB files for use with Vegas Movie.
I was delighted to find that Vegas Movie can do many things that one would expect only a much more expensive, "professional" editor to do. For example, it can do transparent overlays, like if you want to place a watermark on your video.
One problem that I experienced with Vegas Movie is that sometimes, when I click the main timeline preview Play button, it will cause my computer to freeze while it runs through the entire movie, and the computer remains frozen until I reboot it. However, I learned from experience that this can be prevented by minimizing all of the tracks, making the movie preview window small and "draft option" in appearance, and turning off all unneeded programs that may be running in the background. My computer system is an older one that has been through many upgrades, so that may have something to do with this issue. I mention the solution here in case anyone else encounters that problem.
Other programs I have used in addition to Premiere include several versions of MainActor, VideoEdit, Windows Movie Maker, VideoWave, and some I can't remember. So far, Vegas Movie is the best of them all.
I should mention that I use the excellent free QuickMediaConverter to convert VOB files for use with Vegas Movie.
Review by LilPeck on
Dec 18, 2008 Version: 8.0c
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 9/10
Functionality: 8/10
Value for money: 9/10
Overall: 8/10
I have edited programs with Adobe Premiere 6.1 and Premiere Elements 3. Beginning last week, I started using Sony Vegas Studio to edit my current project. I found one huge defect that results in a program failure due to memory leakage. It took me two days to learn how to avoid this crash...
Do not show AVCHD program media in thumbnail view. Use list view instead.
But this caveat notwithstanding, the program is very stable. The large number of effects and filters are excellent. My congratulations to the designers and programmers. My only disappointment is that the maximum source count is four. At least one more video and audio timeline source should be made available.
Do not show AVCHD program media in thumbnail view. Use list view instead.
But this caveat notwithstanding, the program is very stable. The large number of effects and filters are excellent. My congratulations to the designers and programmers. My only disappointment is that the maximum source count is four. At least one more video and audio timeline source should be made available.
Review by luigi2000 on
Jul 8, 2008 Version: 8.0d
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 9/10
Functionality: 10/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
Of course there is a "scene view" box. Top left menu bar select View, in drop down menu click Video Preview.Scene view box will appear bottom right of screen.
Vegas Movie Studio might not have everything but it works and your computer does not crash.
Vegas Movie Studio might not have everything but it works and your computer does not crash.
Review by unscramble on
May 26, 2008 Version: 6.0b (build126)
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 9/10
Functionality: 10/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
I downloaded the trial version of this software in order to compare with Adobe Premier Elements 3.0 trial. I must admit I found the Sony Vegas Movie Studio software to be a bit limited. Apart from the inexcusable absense of MPEG-2 bitrate control (even the dreaded Roxio has this), editing is quite limited with only 3 video + 3 audio tracks and no "scene" view (ie timeline only). Adobe Premier Elements seems to be vastly better as it has none of these limitations and even allows more advanced features such as moving path editing of one object over another.
However, where the Sony offering really shines is in the DVD authoring. DVD Architect Studio is surprisingly feature rich for such a bargain priced authoring package. Most notably the inclusion of playlists and the ability to create menus to any structure you like are features not usually found in the sub £100 market. I wouldn't expect subtitles or multiple audio streams in a product at this level (and needless to say they are not there) but nearly everything else is and the only obvious basic feature not included is the ability to rotate text and other objects.
If you just want the DVD authoring Amazon have it stand alone for around £32 which is an absolute bargain.
I am currently using Ulead Video Studio 10 and trying SVMS really didn't seem to have much there to make me switch. Ok Ulead hasn't got the most attractive of interfaces, library management is woeful and they waste so much screen space making everything big - but it works very well and it seems (haven't done any actual timings mind) to be quicker to load and render than either Sony or Adobe. Ulead has much greater flexibility in the types of file you can create too.
Adobe's in built DVD authoring is rediculously limited but if I wanted a new video editing program I would probably go for Adobe in preference to Vegas.
However, where the Sony offering really shines is in the DVD authoring. DVD Architect Studio is surprisingly feature rich for such a bargain priced authoring package. Most notably the inclusion of playlists and the ability to create menus to any structure you like are features not usually found in the sub £100 market. I wouldn't expect subtitles or multiple audio streams in a product at this level (and needless to say they are not there) but nearly everything else is and the only obvious basic feature not included is the ability to rotate text and other objects.
If you just want the DVD authoring Amazon have it stand alone for around £32 which is an absolute bargain.
I am currently using Ulead Video Studio 10 and trying SVMS really didn't seem to have much there to make me switch. Ok Ulead hasn't got the most attractive of interfaces, library management is woeful and they waste so much screen space making everything big - but it works very well and it seems (haven't done any actual timings mind) to be quicker to load and render than either Sony or Adobe. Ulead has much greater flexibility in the types of file you can create too.
Adobe's in built DVD authoring is rediculously limited but if I wanted a new video editing program I would probably go for Adobe in preference to Vegas.
Review by ashmont on
Jan 15, 2007 Version: 7
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 7/10
Functionality: 5/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 7/10
Now that v7 can render AC3 audio there is not much missing in this very stable, very capable product -- especially for the price.
Rattler24 is correct about the fixed MPEG2 bitrate from the Vegas Studio component of this suite, but there is a workable solution, as follows, assuming your goal is to make a DVD. If you have a 90+ minute production, after editing simply render it from Vegas Studio to your hard drive in a DV-avi format -- Vegas Studio gives you an easy option to do this. Then, open the DV-avi file in the DVD Architect component of this suite, add your DVD menus, and use the "fit to disk" function. DVD Architect will set the MPEG2 bitrate appropriately to ensure that your 120 minute (or whatever length) production will fit nicely on a single DVD.
Rattler24 is correct about the fixed MPEG2 bitrate from the Vegas Studio component of this suite, but there is a workable solution, as follows, assuming your goal is to make a DVD. If you have a 90+ minute production, after editing simply render it from Vegas Studio to your hard drive in a DV-avi format -- Vegas Studio gives you an easy option to do this. Then, open the DV-avi file in the DVD Architect component of this suite, add your DVD menus, and use the "fit to disk" function. DVD Architect will set the MPEG2 bitrate appropriately to ensure that your 120 minute (or whatever length) production will fit nicely on a single DVD.
Review by lcyrmu on
Oct 21, 2006 Version: v7.0a
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 8/10
Functionality: 9/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 9/10
Just to be clear.
The editor in this software package is excellent. BUT if your intention, after editing, is to render to MPEG-2 then my suggestion would be to buy something other than Vegas Movie Studio (+ DVD). I make this recommendation for one reason. Vegas Movie Studio (+ DVD) will not let the user change the predefined video rendering bitrate for MPEG-2. The predefined video bitrate for MPEG-2 rendering is 8 Mbps, no other option is available.
To verify this I sent the following question to tech support: ”What do I need to do in order to create custom templates for MPEG-2?”
There response was “Unfortunately the ability to adjust render fields in Vegas Movie studio is not possible. This option is available in the full version of Vegas 6.0. For more information on Vegas 6.0 you can click on the link below:
http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/Products/ShowProduct.asp?PID=965
I went to the recommended web site and was informed that it would cost me an additional $350.95 if I wanted to UPGRADE. Thanks but no thanks.
One final thought. While rendering at 8 Mbps will provide excellent quality video it also limits the playback time to only 90 minutes. Not so good when you are trying to fit a 120 minute movie onto one blank DVD disc. And I will point out that 120 minutes of MPEG-2 video looks reasonably good, even on a 65 inch HDTV.
The editor in this software package is excellent. BUT if your intention, after editing, is to render to MPEG-2 then my suggestion would be to buy something other than Vegas Movie Studio (+ DVD). I make this recommendation for one reason. Vegas Movie Studio (+ DVD) will not let the user change the predefined video rendering bitrate for MPEG-2. The predefined video bitrate for MPEG-2 rendering is 8 Mbps, no other option is available.
To verify this I sent the following question to tech support: ”What do I need to do in order to create custom templates for MPEG-2?”
There response was “Unfortunately the ability to adjust render fields in Vegas Movie studio is not possible. This option is available in the full version of Vegas 6.0. For more information on Vegas 6.0 you can click on the link below:
http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/Products/ShowProduct.asp?PID=965
I went to the recommended web site and was informed that it would cost me an additional $350.95 if I wanted to UPGRADE. Thanks but no thanks.
One final thought. While rendering at 8 Mbps will provide excellent quality video it also limits the playback time to only 90 minutes. Not so good when you are trying to fit a 120 minute movie onto one blank DVD disc. And I will point out that 120 minutes of MPEG-2 video looks reasonably good, even on a 65 inch HDTV.
Review by rattler24 on
Jun 4, 2006 Version: 6.0a
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 8/10
Functionality: 7/10
Value for money: 5/10
Overall: 6/10
All I can say is, rattler24, are you serious? READ THE MANUAL! Play with it some more. This is the BEST DV-AVI editor/author to MPEG2-DVD package for the price out there. Period!
This is NOT an MPEG editor. Go use MPEG Video Wizard!
This is NOT an MPEG editor. Go use MPEG Video Wizard!
Review by slacker on
Apr 22, 2006 Version: 4
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 10/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
Great editor if you want to render to MPEG-1 or AVI. MPEG-2 rendering is limited to only one predefined video bitrate. Which means this program rather limited for anyone who is working with movies. Because the most you can get onto a blank DVD is 90 minutes.
Their support is relatively quick to respond, but they don't bother to read the request so the answers are mostly useless. Example, I've sent 7 requests asking for the video bitrate of the MPEG-2 render template. The guy doesn't even know what a video bitrate is.
The other BIG draw back, no smart rendering, every time you do any editing with this program you need to render the entire file in order to save it to disk. Remove one frame and you need to render the entire video.
Their support is relatively quick to respond, but they don't bother to read the request so the answers are mostly useless. Example, I've sent 7 requests asking for the video bitrate of the MPEG-2 render template. The guy doesn't even know what a video bitrate is.
The other BIG draw back, no smart rendering, every time you do any editing with this program you need to render the entire file in order to save it to disk. Remove one frame and you need to render the entire video.
Review by rattler24 on
Apr 19, 2006 Version: 6.0a
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 8/10
Functionality: 7/10
Value for money: 5/10
Overall: 6/10
I am a big fan of this product.
I used to use version 4 - just upgraded to 6 Studio Platinum.
(let me start by saying I have NOT used Premiere or Premiere elements - and I would expect those to be the obvious competition)
This is a VERY powerful production for home users. All complaints I see are from people who want various professional features (ac-3 5.1 etc.)
It is stable you can preview right away. It becomes intuitive fairly quickly.
I strongle recommend you read at LEAST the Quick Start, and probably print out the full manual this baby cna do a LOT of things.
I am very happy with it.
I used to use version 4 - just upgraded to 6 Studio Platinum.
(let me start by saying I have NOT used Premiere or Premiere elements - and I would expect those to be the obvious competition)
This is a VERY powerful production for home users. All complaints I see are from people who want various professional features (ac-3 5.1 etc.)
It is stable you can preview right away. It becomes intuitive fairly quickly.
I strongle recommend you read at LEAST the Quick Start, and probably print out the full manual this baby cna do a LOT of things.
I am very happy with it.
Review by akrasna on
Dec 23, 2005 Version: 6.0
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 8/10
Functionality: 8/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 9/10
Compared to ALL other commercial standalone video capture / edit / author / burn packages out there in this price category ($100), SONY Vegas Movie Studio Platinum is by far the most powerful, feature rich, stable and "tight" (from a resource & code perspective) program I have had the pleasure to review. It is, in effect, Vegas LITE. Wow!
Adobe, Ulead, and TmpGEnc are probably the ONLY real contenders here as editors, and they quickly fall by the waist-side after doing hands-on comparisions. Everything else out there at this price point, i.e. Arcsoft and Pinnacle, is a joke and not worth your time! No contest here!
The SONY Movie Studio + DVD Platinum combo should be a $300 program. (Don't tell that to SONY!) You will NOT be disappointed!
Adobe, Ulead, and TmpGEnc are probably the ONLY real contenders here as editors, and they quickly fall by the waist-side after doing hands-on comparisions. Everything else out there at this price point, i.e. Arcsoft and Pinnacle, is a joke and not worth your time! No contest here!
The SONY Movie Studio + DVD Platinum combo should be a $300 program. (Don't tell that to SONY!) You will NOT be disappointed!
Review by slacker on
Sep 18, 2005 Version: 6
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 10/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
Still no Dolby AC3 support!!! This software is worthless to NTSC DVD users, as MPEG1 Layer 2 audio is not NTSC DVD compliant. Value in this software has decreased as far as I'm concerned. If TMPGEnc can release a $30 Dolby AC3 plugin, Sony could too. At least there should be a plugin available to purchase for it. In no way am I going to spend a few hundred dollars more, for the full Vegas 6. AC3 should be standard in all editing and authoring programs.
Review by Wile_E on
Aug 8, 2005 Version: 6.0
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 9/10
Functionality: 6/10
Value for money: 5/10
Overall: 6/10
This software is stable and is easy to use. It has timeline view only, but it works great. It is missing Dolby AC-3 encoder, so you can only output audio in WAV/MP2. Sony should've at least included a 2ch AC-3 encoder. For NTSC, AC-3 is standard. MP2 is for PAL format, although it does work with most NTSC DVD players too. Sony needs to seriously consider adding AC-3 support to both Vegas Movie Studio and the included DVD Architect Lite.
I started using this software extensively, but have switched to various other tools that are specialized and give better results.
1) Vegas Movie Studio - I only use it and Sony Audio Studio, to monitor audio, and examine initial audio levels of test captures for clipping.
2) WinDV - Because of the buffer, I use this for perfect captures with no dropped frames.
3) TMPGenc 3.0 - I use this to encode, because of the Dolby AC-3 plugin support.
4) TMPGenc DVD Author & DVD Lab - I use these to author DVD because of Dolby AC-3 and the features.
I started using this software extensively, but have switched to various other tools that are specialized and give better results.
1) Vegas Movie Studio - I only use it and Sony Audio Studio, to monitor audio, and examine initial audio levels of test captures for clipping.
2) WinDV - Because of the buffer, I use this for perfect captures with no dropped frames.
3) TMPGenc 3.0 - I use this to encode, because of the Dolby AC-3 plugin support.
4) TMPGenc DVD Author & DVD Lab - I use these to author DVD because of Dolby AC-3 and the features.
Review by Wile_E on
Oct 21, 2004 Version: 4
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 9/10
Functionality: 7/10
Value for money: 6/10
Overall: 7/10
Sorry if I repeat other people. This product is stable. Yes easy intuitive fast etc. but really it is refreshing to not be nervous everytime you run it. (I did get it to crash once though)
Although a techie I am a sort of newbie to the editng game - and this progrma also does some nice hand holding - it has a "show me how function" which walks you though steps of doing various tasks.
It does not have a million effects etc - but for me that is OK.
I was also surprised that (besides the rendering process) it is fast and even on my laptop (without the fastest disk of CPU it works well.
Although a techie I am a sort of newbie to the editng game - and this progrma also does some nice hand holding - it has a "show me how function" which walks you though steps of doing various tasks.
It does not have a million effects etc - but for me that is OK.
I was also surprised that (besides the rendering process) it is fast and even on my laptop (without the fastest disk of CPU it works well.
Review by akrasna on
Oct 21, 2004 Version: 4
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 7/10
Functionality: 9/10
Value for money: 9/10
Overall: 9/10
I have used various editors including Vegas Movie Studio (VMS), Pinnacle Studio (7,8 and 9), and Cyberlink Power Director 3. Let me tell you how refreshing it is to use such a powerful and STABLE editor like VMS. I have spent many frustrated nights using Pinnacles Studio and now that Sony has replaced MyDVD with their own DVD Architect, I have finally uninstalled Power Director and removed the Pinnacle infestation from my computer. VMS has features like chromakey, and PiP that the others dont have or charge extra in a "plus" version. All render high quality video but VMS rendering engine is the fastest.
Review by tdm on
Oct 16, 2004 Version: 4.0
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 7/10
Functionality: 9/10
Value for money: 9/10
Overall: 9/10
I was undecided between Ulead 8 and Vegas movie studio + DVD but the new DVD architect lite that comes with this puts it over the top. I can now customize the menus, allowing me to animate and move buttons, thumbnails wherever I wish. Having tried the trial version of Ulead 8, I found that Vegas Movie Studio was not as intuitive as Ulead 8, but just as powerful.
Review by Mushimo on
Sep 28, 2004 Version: 4
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 7/10
Functionality: 9/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
This tool is extremely STABLE (both v4 and v3) compared to my experience with Pinnacle Studio8. With MovieStudio (and previously Screenblast Studio), I have made more than 4 DVDs within 2 months while it took me more than 6 months to get 1 DVD out of Studio8. The stability of the MovieStudio counts very much for me as I am not plagued with having to keep un-installing my OS, software, etc just to get the tool to work.
And with DVD Architect Studio added, this package rocks for a home-user. Definitely recommend this tool as a must consider option.
And with DVD Architect Studio added, this package rocks for a home-user. Definitely recommend this tool as a must consider option.
Review by LKSK on
Sep 27, 2004 Version: 4.0
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 9/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
Having used Vegas and DVD Architect I found this really easy to use. For my needs it doesn't quite cut it, but for the home user it is fine.
Review by starofradiance on
Sep 9, 2004 Version: 4
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 9/10
Functionality: 6/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 7/10
Having just upgraded from V3 to V4, I can safely say that the upgrade ($30) is definately worth the money for those who have V3 and want better dvd authoring facilities.
The video editing tool itself, Movie Studio, doesn't have that many new features over V3 and I would say its more of a point release. Sure, the new 3D transitions look cool and I think the new version of the MainConcept encoder is faster (though I haven't tested it enough to be sure), but in terms of new functionality it doesn't offer much over the old version. That's not to say it isn't good; the reason I went for this product in the first place was because it offered great functionality, especially when compared with other tools in the same price bracket.
The real advance here is in DVD authoring. Moving away from the sub-standard Sonic MyDVD and providing what is, in effect, a cut-down version of Sony's DVD Architect is a great move and one guaranteed the eliminate some other comments against this product, from those who felt the dvd authoring let down an otherwise superb tool. OK, so it's not as good as its big brother nor the likes of DVD-Lab, but to be included as part of a $99 video/dvd package its definately good value for money.
Both the video editing and dvd authoring tools are now "lite" versions of Sony's professional tools; they both share a consistent interface and offer a good sub-set of the features found on their more expensive siblings, but without selling short.
If you can't afford the professional tools then I believe you wouldn't go wrong with this package.
The video editing tool itself, Movie Studio, doesn't have that many new features over V3 and I would say its more of a point release. Sure, the new 3D transitions look cool and I think the new version of the MainConcept encoder is faster (though I haven't tested it enough to be sure), but in terms of new functionality it doesn't offer much over the old version. That's not to say it isn't good; the reason I went for this product in the first place was because it offered great functionality, especially when compared with other tools in the same price bracket.
The real advance here is in DVD authoring. Moving away from the sub-standard Sonic MyDVD and providing what is, in effect, a cut-down version of Sony's DVD Architect is a great move and one guaranteed the eliminate some other comments against this product, from those who felt the dvd authoring let down an otherwise superb tool. OK, so it's not as good as its big brother nor the likes of DVD-Lab, but to be included as part of a $99 video/dvd package its definately good value for money.
Both the video editing and dvd authoring tools are now "lite" versions of Sony's professional tools; they both share a consistent interface and offer a good sub-set of the features found on their more expensive siblings, but without selling short.
If you can't afford the professional tools then I believe you wouldn't go wrong with this package.
Review by simbo on
Sep 8, 2004 Version: 4.0
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 9/10
Functionality: 8/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 9/10
I'm not a professional video producer, but neither am I a total newbie. I was looking for a decent video editing program under $200 (the wife would kill me if I spent more), and went in to the process recognizing that I would have to make some compromises for that price.
I used Pinnacle Studio 7 and 8, and found it to be so buggy and slow as to be utterly unreliable and unusable. Roxio Easy CD and DVD Creator 6 was stable enough, but the image quality of rendered DVD movies and menus was poor. ULead Movie Factory was nice, but too basic in its capabilities.
Sony Screenblast Movie Studio, by comparison, is extremely stable -- not a single crash so far -- and provides a number of sophisticated capabilities not found or only partly found in other packages. For example, compositing, separate audio tracks and text tracks, and high-quality MPEG rendering. I also like that the Screenblast UI is pretty much "Vegas light," so the skills you develop using this program are somewhat transferable to professional-level UIs.
For me, the only downside to Screenblast -- and the reason I only rated it a 7 for Functionality -- is menu authoring. Screenblast does not provide integrated menu authoring (an inheritance, perhaps, of the model used in its professional siblings), but includes Sonic MyDVD 4.5, which is a really weak menu authoring package. It's unfortunate, but MyDVD, while stable, is so limited in its capabilities that it's pretty well near useless for the sorts of things I want to do. Having said that, it's not really much better or worse than the menuing components included with the Roxio, Pinnacle, or Ulead products. MyDVD drags down an otherwise outstanding product.
Bottom line: Screenblast is a really great video editing package. You can use it to edit videos for a variety of output formats, not just DVD, and its export capabilities are more numerous than its competitors. The program works extremely well for creating output for DVDs, but you will probably want to add a 3rd-party DVD menu authoring program like DVD-lab.
I used Pinnacle Studio 7 and 8, and found it to be so buggy and slow as to be utterly unreliable and unusable. Roxio Easy CD and DVD Creator 6 was stable enough, but the image quality of rendered DVD movies and menus was poor. ULead Movie Factory was nice, but too basic in its capabilities.
Sony Screenblast Movie Studio, by comparison, is extremely stable -- not a single crash so far -- and provides a number of sophisticated capabilities not found or only partly found in other packages. For example, compositing, separate audio tracks and text tracks, and high-quality MPEG rendering. I also like that the Screenblast UI is pretty much "Vegas light," so the skills you develop using this program are somewhat transferable to professional-level UIs.
For me, the only downside to Screenblast -- and the reason I only rated it a 7 for Functionality -- is menu authoring. Screenblast does not provide integrated menu authoring (an inheritance, perhaps, of the model used in its professional siblings), but includes Sonic MyDVD 4.5, which is a really weak menu authoring package. It's unfortunate, but MyDVD, while stable, is so limited in its capabilities that it's pretty well near useless for the sorts of things I want to do. Having said that, it's not really much better or worse than the menuing components included with the Roxio, Pinnacle, or Ulead products. MyDVD drags down an otherwise outstanding product.
Bottom line: Screenblast is a really great video editing package. You can use it to edit videos for a variety of output formats, not just DVD, and its export capabilities are more numerous than its competitors. The program works extremely well for creating output for DVDs, but you will probably want to add a 3rd-party DVD menu authoring program like DVD-lab.
Review by sfordin on
Feb 15, 2004 Version: 3.0a (build 100)
OS: Win2K Ease of use: 9/10
Functionality: 7/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 9/10
I have been using Screenblast Movie Studio 3.0a for over a month now and I really like this program! The interface is very easy to use and the results have been great. I am using this program to edit DV files (transfers from analog tapes via a DV Camcorders analog passthrough). This program includes a lot of effects, transitions, and other goodies that can help make professional looking results.
I gave this product an 8 on functionality because there are a few things that I would like to see added or changed:
1. The included DVD author program myDVD 4.5 produces pretty poor results.
2. The scrolling credits effect would be even better if it allowed the same border & shadow effects as other text.
The 9 on ease of use is because the nice big printed manual is very basic (targeted to newbies) and doesn't explain all of the features available. I still haven't found any written information on what some of the advanced rendering options do.
I gave this product an 8 on functionality because there are a few things that I would like to see added or changed:
1. The included DVD author program myDVD 4.5 produces pretty poor results.
2. The scrolling credits effect would be even better if it allowed the same border & shadow effects as other text.
The 9 on ease of use is because the nice big printed manual is very basic (targeted to newbies) and doesn't explain all of the features available. I still haven't found any written information on what some of the advanced rendering options do.
Review by EdgarT on
Feb 6, 2004 Version: 3.0a
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 9/10
Functionality: 8/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 9/10
I've used Pinnacle Studio 7 and then 8 over the course of the last 3-4 years. I've only been able to create 1 VCD and could not create a DVD. I was just about to give up my video editing hobby when I decided to look again at other tools. I looked at ULead and found that it was not a bad product. However, I selected Movie Studio because I read it was based on the same code base as Vegas Video which is very popular and stable. I have not been disappointed. It took me a few nights of getting used to the timeline after using the storyboard for so long. It would be great if Sony would add one to ease the transition from other products. But after 1 week I've created my first DVD!!! I highly recommend this product to anyone who is sick and tired of using the Pinnacle webboard to find the million and one workarounds to get the product to work.
Review by albertaa on
Dec 5, 2003 Version: 3.0
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 9/10
Functionality: 9/10
Value for money: 9/10
Overall: 9/10
I tried Pinnacle, Ulead7, and last year's Magix. They all work. They all have their + and -. I finally settled on the Sony/SF product because as an audio guy for years I was familiar with the GUI aspect. For those interested this is essentially a "Vegas Lite". I personally don't mind the lack of a Story Board, nor the more utilitrian look of the GUI. The eye candy from the other products mentioned is gone. There are no cutesy TV or remote mock-ups, just what you need to work and produce A/V off-line. I have found it to be rock solid, reasonably fast and the real-time audi envelopes are a real plus. On the others you set project fades, etc. or use a graphic with a SMPTE time set for the effect, I suppose in deference to the eye-candy. Screenblast will let professionals work the way they're used to and give consumers a more flexible production environment. Having said that, the wizard and eye candy set or the quickie home movie compositors will find that there is a learning curve as this program will not "do it for you". My only knock is that this version will not locate or load other DirectX effects in the audio chain.
I gave it an 8 for ease to qualify "ease". For anyone familiar with Sonic Foundry products or pro-level audio products (Sound Forge, Wave Lab, Logic, Cubase, Pro Tools, Sonar, Nuendo) it's a snap. In fact it's frightenly easy with a great 3 track stereo audio presentation and 3 track video timeline.
The help files and tutorials are well designed and direct.
It's also anywhere from 10 to 30 bucks cheaper than the less functional eye candy products.
I gave it an 8 for ease to qualify "ease". For anyone familiar with Sonic Foundry products or pro-level audio products (Sound Forge, Wave Lab, Logic, Cubase, Pro Tools, Sonar, Nuendo) it's a snap. In fact it's frightenly easy with a great 3 track stereo audio presentation and 3 track video timeline.
The help files and tutorials are well designed and direct.
It's also anywhere from 10 to 30 bucks cheaper than the less functional eye candy products.
Review by Oldsynthguy on
Dec 5, 2003 Version: 3.0 (78)
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 8/10
Functionality: 9/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 9/10
I've been using this for several weeks after bad experiences with ArcSoft Showbiz and Ulead VideoStudio. I find the interface to be simple and straightforward. I was up and editing very quickly. There are a few quirks but they are easy to live with. It uses only a timeline interface; I think adding a story-board mode would improve it, but I'm doing fine without it.
This editor has a rich feature set. For instance, you can apply video filters to individual clips, groups of clips, or you can just put it on the entire output. (Great for me, I can create one filter that compensates for the low saturation of my camera.) You can also create your own templates for filters, text, etc. It has a very intuitive way of changing the gamma on fades, too. SMS also has better audio capabilities than the other tools I've tried. And you can specify your own external audio editors, film capture tools, etc.
On large projects it can be slow to load, but it's pretty fast once it's going. (Ulead VideoStudio is maddeningly slow all the time.)
This tool uses MyDVD as the DVD authoring tool. It has some limitations but I've worked out a few tricks that keep me happy.
You can only capture as AVI, and when you "create a DVD" it generates AVI. So I use the honestech tool to batch-convert to mpegs (which causes some problems)and I generate mpg files and THEN go to MyDVD. Minor irritations.
Overall I recommend this highly. I downgraded it on Ease of Use because they have a moronic online registration that rarely works. You have to register both the product and the mpeg plug-in, so be ready to call Customer Service twice.
Documentation and tutorials are excellent. Well-integrated and thorough.
This editor has a rich feature set. For instance, you can apply video filters to individual clips, groups of clips, or you can just put it on the entire output. (Great for me, I can create one filter that compensates for the low saturation of my camera.) You can also create your own templates for filters, text, etc. It has a very intuitive way of changing the gamma on fades, too. SMS also has better audio capabilities than the other tools I've tried. And you can specify your own external audio editors, film capture tools, etc.
On large projects it can be slow to load, but it's pretty fast once it's going. (Ulead VideoStudio is maddeningly slow all the time.)
This tool uses MyDVD as the DVD authoring tool. It has some limitations but I've worked out a few tricks that keep me happy.
You can only capture as AVI, and when you "create a DVD" it generates AVI. So I use the honestech tool to batch-convert to mpegs (which causes some problems)and I generate mpg files and THEN go to MyDVD. Minor irritations.
Overall I recommend this highly. I downgraded it on Ease of Use because they have a moronic online registration that rarely works. You have to register both the product and the mpeg plug-in, so be ready to call Customer Service twice.
Documentation and tutorials are excellent. Well-integrated and thorough.
Review by billcoffin on
Nov 25, 2003 Version: 3.0
OS: WinME Ease of use: 7/10
Functionality: 8/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 8/10
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